giveaways

**UPDATE: Somehow comments were inadvertently turned off. It should be fixed now...sorry.

When the opportunity came along to give away a few signed copies from the 39 Clues series, I wasn't sure that I wanted to participate. Princess P is a little young, all about princesses, and not so keen on adventures, unless they involve the Little Einsteins. Plus, I haven't had a chance to fully review the books. However, during my research, I found enough positive (and a little negative) comments to feel comfortable putting the books up on simplefahter.com.

When I think of graphic novels, what usually comes to mind are two of my favorites, Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. I enjoy the dark, gritty feel of the characters, whose flaws play just as big a part as their admirable qualities. So... when the opportunity arose to check out a book that was billed as part novel, part graphic novel, with a rather grim story, I decided to check it out.

Are you reading this at 1am on your Blackberry while trying to quiet a screaming child who refuses to sleep? Or maybe after an exhausting day you have a hard time falling asleep. Then you may be in luck.

When we put Special K to bed, she shifts around for about 10 seconds before she's out like a light. However, with Princess P it's a whole different ball game. After tucking her into bed it may take her up to 2 hours to fall asleep. So, when the opportunity arose to test a product that could shorten her 2 hour cool down period, I was intrigued.

When I was growing up, some of my favorite 'books' were put out by Klutz. So when the opportunity arose to check out their new Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I was curious too see if the books were still top notch.